General Petraeus's letter to Bob was in the wake of his second letter to President Bush regarding matters in the Middle East, and read as follows:

Baghdad, 23 March, 07

Dear Bob-

Thanks for your letter and the wonderful proposal for The Mother of All Diplomatic Initiatives! I was pleased to see that you sent your proposal to Amb-to-be-Crocker, as well—as I'm happy to have him pursue such items while we get on with soldiering—albeit with a keen eye on the strategic environment.

Again, thanks/best-

Dave Petraeus

Bob is—as is General Petraeus—a West Point grad, which adds to his capabilities to both communicate 'up and down the lines' of the military, as well as to undestand matters in that realm.